Thursday, June 14, 2018

All aboard!

"Do you think a regular
writing hiatus would be good for you? No writing/reading/reviewing/marketing
etc.) How long would you like to take and what would you do during it?"

Catriona writes: Thus week I'm taking a blogging hiatus, well, I'm turning my day over to Linda Lovely, who's on a blog tour to celebrate the launch of PICKED OFF, the second in her South Carolina goat farm mystery series, the follow-up to the giggle-fest that was BONES TO PICK.

Over to Linda:

Here’s how old I am: I recall taking
vacations from my full time job and packing only clothes, money, and, if we were
driving to the coast, maybe beach towels. What didn’t I pack? Cell phones and
laptops. All communication with my employer (early on) and partners (later) ceased.
If my firm went bankrupt and I lost my job, I’d learn about it once I returned
home. Meanwhile I was on vacation and couldn’t give a hoot.

Old fogey that I am I look back on this era
as the good old days. Now when friends and family come to visit (often since we
live on a very pretty lake), most never entirely escape work and worries. Colleagues
call with questions. They answer texts. They check social media and websites
several times a day. They never unplug.

That means they miss the joy of a total
sabbatical—a timeout to do absolutely nothing or to lose oneself in a fantasy
adventure. A chance to recharge our minds and bodies, give free reign to our
imaginations. The real world calls us back soon enough.

So do I think a regular writing hiatus
would be good for me (and others)? Absolutely. However, I can’t include reading
in my potential list of retreat-from-authorhood prohibitions. I was reading for
pleasure and escape long before I started writing fiction, and I’ll still be
devouring books if I ever quit. Reading is part of the bedtime ritual for my
husband and me. We always read for an hour or so before it’s lights out.

How long a hiatus makes sense? Depends on
the individual. Some folks are so addicted to their cell phones that I doubt
they could spend a day unplugged without psychotherapy. It would be torture,
not vacation. For me, I’m a fan of the traditional two-week vacation. One week
isn’t long enough. I’m usually worn out at the start of a vacation due to
frantic efforts to put out any fires and get ready—even if my trip doesn’t
involve leaving home. Three weeks is too long since playing catch up on my
return to author responsibilities would just rekindle whatever stress I felt
pre-vacation.

What is my ideal escape? Perhaps a train
trip across Canada with my husband, if we had the freedom to disembark whenever
and for as long as we chose. It’s been too long since we’ve visited with out
niece in Saskatchewan who lives on a wheat farm. I’d love to revisit Quebec
City, Toronto, and Nova Scotia. And I’ve always wanted to see Banff National
Park, Calgary, and Vancouver. (Note to
self, you do need to renew your passport for Canada.)

I think fear is the biggest reason we don’t
unplug for any length of time. Some folks with nine-to-five jobs may fear their
employers will realize they CAN function without them. For authors, it’s fear
that should we abandon social media, our fans will move on or our publishers
will decide we’re poor team players and undependable or poor communicators.

What I fear more is that if I don’t disconnect
from the writing world at least once a year I’ll miss out on experiences and
emotions that are what the good life’s all about. And those experience might
just provide the inspiration for the best book I’ll ever write.

Linda's Bio: Over the past
five years, hundreds of mystery/thriller writers have met Linda Lovely at
check-in for the annual Writers’ Police Academy, which she helps organize. Lovely finds writing pure fiction isn’t a huge stretch given the years she’s spent
penning PR and ad copy. She writes a blend of
mystery and humor, chuckling as she plots to “disappear” the types of
characters who most annoy her. Quite satisfying plus there’s no need to pester
relatives for bail. Henery Press just released PICKED OFF on June 5. It’s the
second humorous installment in her new Brie Hooker Mystery series set on a goat
farm in Upstate South Carolina. An active member of Sisters in Crime, Lovely served
as her local chapter’s president for five years. She also belongs to
International Thriller Writers and Romance Writers of America.www.lindalovely.com

Thanks to Catriona for introducing us to a new author, for me and to (ta da) a goat farm!

As for your blog post, alas the reason I don't unplug from my cell phone is that if I don't delete the 200 emails I get every day, I end up being overwhelmed--and all the good vibes I got from being away get swamped when I return. But I try not to respond to anything. I just delete the junk and flag the ones that need attending to when I get home. As for actually answering the phone, I don't do that in every day life, so I surely don't do it on vacation.

I quite remember the good old days before cell phones, though. In fact, I used to windsurf off the coast of Baja, where there was only one phone within several miles, and people had to stand in line to use it. And didn't always work. One of the men who was fishing a week got word through the hotel (a loose term for the collection of cottages) that his house had burned down. People asked if he was going home. Heck no, he said. The house will still be burned down when I get back. There's nothing I can do now. No that is a relaxed attitude!

Super post, Linda...thanks for giving us all the chance to think about turning off at least one device. Unfortunately, I'm a bit like Terry when it comes to my phone - if I don't at least "curate" my emails, my phone stops accepting them altogether, then I panic! By the way, I love the sound of your two-week trip across Canada...and, YES, get that passport renewed; come to Vancouver for Left Coast Crime in March next year to not only have an excuse to visit Beautiful British Columbia, but to mingle with avid crime writers and readers :-)

Hmmm, Left Coast Crime in Vancouver. Maybe. I've always wanted to attend LCC and see Vancouver but I'd sort of envisioned Canada in the summer. Not still worrying about getting through the passes. Terry, delighted that you are intrigued by a goat farm.

I still have a flip phone. So I don't worry about emails stacking up on my phone. But I understand the dilemma. And, yes, I do try to weed everyday. Still have something like a couple thousand (received and sent) I haven't filed or deleted. Ugh. But it is pretty easy when you've been gone to just delete all emails that aren't personal--which is usually the bulk of them.

I enjoyed your post Linda. I just spent a couple hours at a campsite atop a mountain that has no cellphone signal, picking up and dropping off my son. I was thinking it would be kind of blissful to stay a few days, but then the fear you speak of would kick in. Will I be able to recover from this lengthy disconnect? And the longer you're away from social media, the harder it is to get back in. Thanks for guest-posting and sorry for jumping in late.

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Mondays with Susan

Susan C. Shea debuts a new series, a French village mystery, Love & Death in Burgundy in spring 2017 (St. Martin's Minotaur). The third in her Dani O'Rourke series came out in Feb. 2016. She lives in Marin County, CA.

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With numerous award nominations for her books, Brenda Chapman pens the Stonechild and Rouleau police procedural series; the Anna Sweet novellas for adult literacy; and the Jennifer Bannon mysteries for young adults. Booklist recommends the Stonechild series "highly to crime-fiction fans looking for a new author". Brenda lives in Ottawa, Canada.

Tuesdays with Terry

Terry Shames writes the Macavity Award-winning Samuel Craddock series, set in small-town Texas. In 2015 BookPeople dubbed her one of the top five Texas mystery authors.

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R.J. Harlick is the author of the acclaimed Meg Harris mystery series set in the wilds of Quebec. Her love for Canada’s untamed wilds is the inspiration for her series. The 4th book, Arctic Blue Death, was a finalist for the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Novel.

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Cathy Ace writes the globe-trotting Cait Morgan Mysteries, (Bony Blithe winner 2015 - Agatha’s Canadian cousin), and the WISE Enquiries Agency Mysteries, set in her native Wales. She lives in rural British Columbia.

Wednesdays with Dietrich

Dietrich Kalteis is the award-winning author of Ride the Lightning, The Deadbeat Club, Triggerfish, House of Blazes and Zero Avenue. Nearly fifty of his short stories have been published, and he lives with his family on Canada’s west coast.

Thursdays with Catriona

Catriona McPherson is the Anthony, Agatha, Macavity, IndieFab and Lefty winning author of the DANDY GILVER series set in Scotland in the 1920s, as well as two darker stand-alones AS SHE LEFT IT and THE DAY SHE DIED. Catriona lives in northern California with a black cat and a scientist.

Thursdays with Jim

James W. Ziskin (Jim to his friends) is the author of the Edgar-, Anthony-, Barry-, Lefty-, and Macavity-nominated Ellie Stone Mysteries. He's 6'2", weighs 200 pounds, and writes like a girl.

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Paul D. Marks pulled a gun on the LAPD...and lived to tell about. A former "script doctor," Paul's novel WHITE HEAT is a 2013 SHAMUS AWARD WINNER. Publishers Weekly calls WHITE HEAT a "taut crime yarn." Paul is also the author of over thirty published short stories in a variety of genres, including several award winners. GHOSTS OF BUNKER HILL, from the 12/16 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, was voted #1 in the 2016 Ellery Queen Readers Poll.

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Danny Gardner's work has appeared in Beat to a Pulp, Out of the Gutter, and Literary Orphans Journal. His first novel, A NEGRO AND AN OFAY, will be released May 2017 by Down And Out Books. His short fiction will be featured in JUST TO WATCH HIM DIE, a Johnny Cash inspired anthology, published by Gutter Books in Winter 2016.